Radiator with anti-tampering enclosure



March 30, 1965 R. STEINBERG ETAL 3,175,607

RADIATOR WITH ANTI-TAMPERING ENCLOSURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 20, 1962 March 30, 1965 R. STEINBERG ETAL 3,175,607

RADIATOR WITH ANTI-TAMPERING ENCLOSURE Filed Nov. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States l atent 3,175,607 RADIATOR WITH ANTI-TAMPERING ENCLOSURE Richard Steinberg, Bronx, and Anthony Fraga, Brooklyn,

N.Y., assignors to Slant/ Fin Radiator Corporation,

Richmond Hill, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 239,007 8 Claims. (Cl. 165-55) The present invention relates to radiators, particularly baseboard radiators.

Such radiators commonly incorporate a housing and a heat-exchange unit. The housing includes front and back walls, which are shaped to form top and bottom elongated openings. Within the housing, between the top and bottom openings, there is a fin-and-tube heatexchange element. Heat is extracted from hot water or steam usually fed to the fin-and-tube unit. Heated air leaves the housing by way of the elongated top opening and this air is replaced by cool air that enters the bottom of the housing, to be drawn past the fin-and-tube unit as a rising convection-current of air. Sometimes radiators of this type are used for air-conditioning, by circulating cooling liquid through the fin-and-tube unit.

These radiators are commonly installed by first fastening the back wall of the housing to the wall of the room, placing the fin-and-tube unit on a series of forward-extending supporting arms, and then mounting the front cover of the housing. In a popular form of baseboard radiator, the front cover has a downward-curled top edge and an upward-curled bottom edge. Top and bottom bracket arms in the housing have formations that are releasably received by the curled edges of the front cover so as normally to retain that front cover.

The bracket arms are resilient. A front'cover is mounted simply by snapping it on the top and bottom bracket arms. The cover is also readily removable, to allow for occasional cleaning of the fins of the heat-exchange element. The ready removably has, however, been a source of difficulty. When the cover is accidentally bumped or kicked, it might fall off, and children or others might tamper with the front cover. Removal of the cover exposes the easily-damaged fins of the tin-andtube heat-exchange unit.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved radiator in which means is provided for securely retaining the cover in a manner that elfectively resists tampering.

A more particular object of the invention resides in the provision of an anti-tampering lock that is largely concealed but which is easily installed and is highly effective in retaining the cover of a radiator.

The nature of the invention, and its further objects and novel features, will be more fully appreciated from the following detailed disclosure of an illustrative embodiment of the invention which is shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a section of a baseboard radiator embodying features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-section of the radiator in FIG. 1, drawn to larger scale;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are front and side elevations, respectively, of a component in FIGS. 1 and 2, drawn to still larger scale; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged portion of FIG. 2, one of the parts of the radiator being shown in broken lines to illustrate an alternative position, FIG. 5 additionally including a tool that is shown in broken lines.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a standard type of baseboard radiator illustrated. Basically it includes a housing of sheet 3,175,607 Patented Mar. 30, 1965 metal containing a fin-and-tube heat-exchange element. The housing includes a back wall 16, a front cover 12, and an adjustable damper 14. The heat-exchange element includes a length of tubing 16 on which are supported a series of metal fins 18 that have tight-fitting collars in good heat-exchange contact with tube 16.

A series of sheet-metal brackets 20 are distributed at intervals along the housing, for supporting the heatexchange element, the damper 14 and the front cover 12. Bracket 20 includes a vertical metal strip 22 which extends all the way from the bottom curled edge of rear wall 10 of the housing up to the inturned edge of the top ledge of the housing. A lower bracket arm 24 extends integrally from strip 22 and an upper bracket arm 26 also extends integrally from strip 22. A laterally bent portion 24a of support 24 extends at right angles to the plane of the drawing so as to increase considerably the horizontal extent of arm 24 in its supporting contact with the heat-exchange unit 16, 18. A clip (not shown) is commonly interposed between bracket arm 24 and fins 13, for avoiding noises when fins are forced across the supporting bracket arms by thermal expansions and contractions of tube 16. The end of bracket arm 24 has a recess 24!) and is complementary to the lower curled edge 12a of front cover 12.

Bracket arm 26 has a stiifening portion 25a bent at right angles to the plane of the drawing, and the curved extremity 26b of this part of the bracket arm provides a pivotal support for damper 14. Bracket arm 26 has a further portion 260 bent at right angles to the plane of the drawing which provides lateral stiffness of bracket arm 26. The uppermost and outermost portion 26d of arm 26 is formed as a nose which is complemental to and enters the upper curled edge 12b of the front cover 12.

The baseboard radiator thus far described is of standard commercial construction. Air enters the bottom of the housing, between front cover 12 and back wall 10, rises so as to extract heat from fins 18, and then leaves through the spaces at both edges of louver 14. This flow of air is largely induced convection current.

Fins 13 are of relatively thin-gauge aluminum commonly, and are relatively delicate and easily deformed. Partly for this reason it is of considerable importance that the front cover 12 shall not be readily removable, to resist tampering. If cover 12 were removed, fins 13 would then be exposed to damage. Furthermore, it is desirable to prevent cover 12 from becoming dislodged when accidentally bumped, as in the normal use of vacuum cleaners close to the base board radiator.

For the purpose of preventing accidental removal of cover 12, an anti-tampering lock is provided, shown separately in FIGS. 3 and 4, and shown in operative position in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. One such lock is desirable for each of the brackets 20. Anti-tampering lock 28 includes a long member 30 and a short member 32. These members are of sheet-metal and, as shown, are welded to the leaves of a hinge 34. Alternatively, the hinge connection could be formed out of integral portions of members so and 32. The lower end of member 30 has a pair of legs 36. The upper end of element 32 has a pair of legs 38. A tongue 40 extends integrally from element 32 between legs 38.

The distance between edge 30a at the bottom of element 39 and edge 32a at the top of element 32 is such as to be received with a tight fit between bracket arms 24 and 25, spreading those arms somewhat and forcing their end formations 24b and 26d securely and positively into the inturned edges 12a and 12b of front cover 12. Legs 36 straddle portion 24a of bracket arm 24 and legs 38 similarly straddle portion 26c of bracket arm 25. With the anti-tampering lock 28 in position as shown in FIG. 2, there is no danger of front cover 12 of the radiator section becoming dislodged accidentally or being forcibly removed. Legs 36 and 33 locate each lock in relation to the bracket arms when the lock is being put in p'lae', and these legs prevent lock 28 from becoming dislodged by lateral shift. Tongue 32 provides assurance that the lock will not move past the end of bracket arm 26. Even if there were enough space between the end of arm 26 and cover 12 to admit the sheet-metal part 32, arm 26 would still bear against tongue 32.

When a lock 28 is in place, as illustrated, it remains stably in place and constitutes a relatively rigid or st'ifi spreader preventing arms 24 and 26 from flexing toward each other. In the installed position illustrated in FIGS.- 1 and 2, lock 28 provides a positive locking means for preventing the front cover from being moved. And because no part of the lock is exposed externally of the housing, nor is the lock visible even by an individual who looks into the louver, and further because the lock is largely inaccessible to one unfamiliar with the concealed construction, locks 28 are highly effective for preventing both accidental and willful removal of the frdnt cover of the radiator housing. g

The apparatus is assembled as follows: Enclosure wall 10 is nailed to the wall of the room. Heat-exchange element 16, 18 is put in place and the front cover is snapped onto the resilient arms 24, 26 of the various brackets distributed at points along the length of the' front cover. A locking unit 28 is manually assembled to each paif of bracket arms 24, 26. Lower member 30 of the lock is pressed against the inside surface of cover 12, with its legs 36 at opposite sides of bracket pdrtion 24a. At this time, the upper element 32 of the lock is in the position represented by dotted lines in FIG. 5. Installation of the lock is completed simply by swinging element 32 upward, against or nearly against front cover 7 12 and with legs 38 at opposite sides of bracket-arm portion 260. In the aligned or erect condition of elements 30 and 32, the top and bottom edges bear tightly against portions 24a and 26c and are thus frictionally held in position. The hinge connection has an amount of friction that resists a slight tendency of the hinged parts 30, 32 to buckle, due to endwise pressure on parts 30 and 32, even when not perfectly aligned. Each lock 30, 32 remains erect, and the bracket arms 24 and 26 are thereby positively prevented from yielding toward each other. In this Way, as already noted, the front cover and the bracket arms are locked in assembly to each other.

It is occasionally necessary to remove front cover 12, as for repairing or cleaning the heat-exchange elements. When this is necessary, the locks 28 may be released by inserting a tool A (FIG; and the tool can then be used to pry element 32 away from front cover 12 and toward the dotted-line position represented in FIG. 5. The locking element can then be manually grasped and removed, or after all of the locks have been released by means of tool A, the front cover 12 can be removed and all of the locks 28 drop out.

Element 30 is considerably longer than element 32, as noted above. Because of the proportions illustrated, the upper hinged part 32 is well above the heatexchange element and is readily manipulated between its released position and its erect locking position. Furthermore, because element 32 is relatively short, that element moved through a comparatively prominent arc and tends to deflect bracket arm 26 upward through an appreciable distance, driving the formed ends of the upper and lower bracket arms portions 24 and 26 firmly into the curled edges of the front cover.

It has been indicated that bracket arms 24 and 26 are resilient and act, resiliently, in retaining cover 12 in place before the locks 28 are inserted. It will be readily appreciated, however, that even if one of the bracket arms (arm 24, for example) were quite rigid, the interposition of lock 28 between one such hypothetically rigid element and the opposite resilient bracket-arm 26 would be effective in providing positive retention of the cover.

It is apparent that variations may be made in the illustrative embodiment of the invention and, consequently, the invention should be construed broadly in accordance with its full spirit and scope.

What is claimed is:

l.- A radiator, including a housing comprising a series of horizontally separated supporting means each including an upper arm and a lower arm, each said supporting means being constructed to afford yielding relative movement of the arms toward each other, and the arms of each supporting meanshaving oppositely directed formations at the extremities thereof, a heat exchange element contained in said housing, a front cover having upper and lower horizontal edges with curled formations directed toward each other at the extremities thereof, the oppositely directed formations of said arms being respectively received in interlocking engagement with said curled edge formations of said front cover, and a releasable locking means interposed between the upper arm and the lower arm of each of a plurality of said supporting means and inside the front cover for positively resistingv the approach of such arms toward each other, said housing having an opening adjacent one of said edges of the cover providing a limited degree of access to the interior of the housing for locking and releasing each said locking means.

2. A radiator in accordance with claim 1, wherein said heat-exchange element is an elongated fin-and-tube unit that extends behind but is spaced from said cover and wherein each said locking means is disposed against the inside surface of said cover and includes a first relatively long element disposed in front of said heat-exchange element and a second relatively short element hingedly connected to said relatively long element and disposed adjacent to said housing opening so as to afford limited access to said relatively short element for locking and releasing said locking means, said relatively long and short elements when disposed against the'cover and aligned constituting a stiff unit preventing relative approaching movement of the corresponding upper and lower arms.

3. A radiator in accordance with claim 2 wherein the top of said short element and the bottom of said longelement each has a pair of legs flanking a respective arm for preventing lateral shift of either and both ends of each locking means.

4. A radiator in accordance with claim 1, wherein each said locking means is a removable unit which constitutes a stiff spreader when in locking assembly to a respective pair of upper and lower arms as aforesaid.

5. A radiator in accordance with claim 1, wherein each said locking means includes a pair of elements hinged together and operatble while being erected to Wedge the related oppositely directed formations firmly away from each other.

6..A radiator in accordance with claim 1, wherein each said locking means and'the corresponding arms include complementary locating formations preventing lateral shift of each said locking means.

7. A radiator in accordance with claim 1, wherein each I said locking means includes a pair of elements hinged together and proportioned so that, when said elements are aligned and said locking means is interposed as aforesaid, said oppositely directed formations are positively held in interlocking engagement with said cover.

8. A radiator, including a housing comprising an elon-- gated front cover having opposite longitudinal edges with curled formations directed toward each other at the extremities thereof, an elongated fin-andtube heat-exchange: element in said housing disposed behind and spaced from the front cover, a series of cover-supporting means sepa rated from each other along the cover, each said cover supporting means including a pair of arms having op;

5 positely directed formations at the extremities thereof respectively received in interlocking engagement with said curled edge formations of said front cover, said coversupporting means being constructed to afford relative movement of said arms in the direction to release said interlocking engagement for enabling mounting and removal of said cover, and a releasable locking means cooperating with the pair of arms of each a plurality of said cover-supporting means for positively resisting said relative movement of the arms in the cover-releasing 6 direction, said housing having an opening adjacent one of said edges of the cover providing a limited degree of access to the interior of the housing for locking and releasing each said locking means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CHARLES SUKALO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A RADIATOR, INCLUDING A HOUSING COMPRISING A SERIES OF HORIZONTALLY SEPARATED SUPPORTING MEANS EACH INCLUDING AN UPPER ARM AND A LOWER ARM, EACH SAID SUPPORTING MEANS BEING CONSTRUCTED TO AFFORD YIELDING RELATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE ARMS TOWARD EACH OTHER, AND THE ARMS OF EACH SUPPORTING MEANS HAVING OPPOSITELY DIRECTED FORMATIONS AT THE EXTREMITIES THEREOF, A HEAT EXCHANGE ELEMENT CONTAINED IN SAID HOUSING, A FRONT COVER HAVING UPPER AND LOWER HORIZONTAL EDGES WITH CURLED FORMATIONS DIRECTED TOWARD EACH OTHER AT THE EXTREMITIES THEROF, THE OPPOSITELY DIRECTED FORMATIONS OF SAID ARMS BEING RESPECTIVELY RECEIVED IN INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID CURLED EDGE FORMATIONS OF SAID FRONT COVER, AND A RELEASABLE LOCKING MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE UPPER ARM AND THE LOWER ARM OF EACH OF A PLURALITY OF SAID SUPPORTING MEANS AND INSIDE THE FRONT COVER FOR POSITIVELY RESISTING THE APPROACH OF SUCH ARMS TOWARD EACH OTHER, SAID HOUSTHE HAVING AN OPENING ADJACENT ONE OF SAID EDGES OF THE COVER PROVIDING A LIMITED DEGREE OF ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF THE HOUSING FOR LOCKING AND RELEASING EACH SAID LOCKING MEANS. 